Chelsea and Westminster or Portland

[NKd1167739100921]

I was booked to give birth at John & Lizzies where I gave birth before but due to baby potentially needing special care due to growth restriction I can't now give birth there. Because of earlier problems in the pregnancy I've been going for scans at the C & W and some appointments there in case I needed to be admitted earlier so I have some rapport with the hospital but I wouldn't know who would deliver the baby as I'd be on the NHS there. My obstetrician from J & L has said she could arrange for me to go to the Portland with her but I visited it and don't feel comfortable with the place. Neither of the 2 hospitals are my ideal solution as I'm not good in hospitals and J & L made me feel safe and secure. So I'm not sure whether to go C & W where I feel more comfortable but won't have someone I trust with me or the Portland which I don't have a good vibe about but would have the obstetrician I know. Any comments on either place would be really helpful and it's not great to have to change hospital at the last minute and is making me feel unsettled and keeping me awake at night.

[Poohbah]

I think that C&W are medically very good but the NHS wards are noisy and I didn't get any sleep the whole time I was there. Also I had a different midwife every shift for each day so never saw the same midwife twice. You can have private rooms postnatally at about £600 per night which may be a good compromise if you are wealthy. The Portland has nice food (apprentaly) but my friend said that the Midwives were a bit abrupt!

[moocowme]

I went to the portland and found it excellent. the midwife i hade imediately after CS was absolutely fab. i found that the staff had time to look after me properly.

food was good as well. very girly is how my DH described it.

[Bessie123]

I haven't found the midwives abrupt at the Portland, but haven't given birth yet.

[jem1969]

My baby was born 4 weeks early in July at C&W. She didn't need special care but required various treatments and we did go to the special care room a few times to have treatments. All the staff we metwere fantastic and there were some lovely doctors and midwives both during labour and after.(This was NHS). I hadn't met any of them before but it really didn't matter. I would think that the special care is probably better at C&W than the Portland. To be honest I didn't care about the nhs ward, just that my baby was getting good treatment.(and the post natal care was much better than I was expecting). An added bonus is that there are lots of good food shops around so if you are for a while visitors can pick you up nice takeaways as the hospital food is dreadful!

[LadySanders]

i had my baby at c&w, he was in special care for 10 days, it was a nightmare, but have heard more good things than bad in the 6 years since then. unless things have changed, last i heard was that portland don't have any special care facilities and will transfer babies requiring it to st mary's which is supposed to be excellent, so might be worth checking that out...

[SazzaK]

Poor you - I really sympathise with you. I shared your vibe about the Portland - I did not go there as was put off by some bad press (probably silly). However I know quite a few people who love it there (other than one reported a cold midwife although perfectly competent) and have only excellent reports (and have returned for further babies although none needed special care - I am sure there was a thread on here where someone commended it though).

I have heard mixed reports about C&W NHS - a friend had a great experience there recently but have heard other bad ones. I was there on the private ward so can't comment about the NHS (or special care) - I foudn the night MWs a bit ropey but day ones fantastic. If you can move postnatally to the Kensington ward I'd do so although the food is not a great improvement on the NHS food I suspect! My husband went out for takeaways.. Probably not your main concern at the moment though.

In your situation I think I would really have to be convinced that my baby would receive better special care at C&W to move from my trusted obstetrician and from a private birth to a London NHS birth. Good luck with your choice.

[taliac]

We found the Portland lovely, and most of the midwives really nice. Not all of them of course but I think thats the case everywhere.

The Portland does have a small NICU suitable for babies over 32 weeks but I believe they transfer very high risk cases, and I bet it gets pricey.. Dr Douek though who is one of the paediatricians that covers the NICU is absolutely top notch, we've used him a few times.

[slim22]

Wanted the St John's and Lizzie as just around the corner but was potentially risky pgcy.

Was also uneasy about Portland, mainly because not really geared up for neo natal emergency.

No first hand experience of C&W.

Have you considered the lindo wing at St Mary's? Very caring experienced "matronly" traditional sort of care. Small intimate unit. Full fledged hospital in case of emergency.
Received excellent care. Never felt that I was pushed towards more medical intervention than I wanted.
No big family beds but Dh can have an extra bed to stay.

[moocowme]

must say Dr Douek at the Portland is good. NICU/SCBU was excellent as well. being a small unit DS got nearly one to one care.